Q&A with Melbourne United champions Chris Goulding and Brad Newley ahead of shared milestones

Chris Goulding played his first NBL game against Brad Newley. Sixteen years on, the pair will celebrate milestones together. Here’s an in-depth look at the mateship between two Aussie greats.

Melbourne United’s leading man Chris Goulding and veteran champion Brad Newley have gone in-depth about their special connection ahead of shared milestones.

The pair, in United’s Sunday clash with Illawarra, will appear in a combined 700th NBL game when Goulding, 34, suits up in his 400th and Newley, 37, his 300th.

Goulding made his NBL debut in 2006 for the Brisbane Bullets as an 18-year-old, taking on Newley — an already established NBL star — and the Townsville Crocodiles.

Fast forward to 2014 and the pair became fast friends over coffee during a Boomers camp.

Now together at United, the pair are great mates, sharing stories, coffee, parenting tips and even a little golf.

They spoke with Michael Randall.

Chris Goulding and Brad Newley ahead of their shared milestone games. Picture: Michael Klein

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Mick Randall: What are your first memories of each other?

Chris Goulding: He was a few years older, had been in the league for a few years and was doing really well with Townsville. I remember my first game coming in with Brisbane and …

Brad Newley: … getting a charge on me.

CG (laughing): Trying to match up on him a little bit. I’d just turned 18, it was pretty daunting. I made a joke, I knew he was hungry for points, so I took a charge.

BN: Why not. We were down by about 40, we got pumped.

Chris Goulding as a Bullets rookie during the 2005-06 season. Picture: Supplied

Smiling young Croc Brad Newley.

MR: I hear you’re both coffee aficionados, tell me how you met?

BN: He wasn’t. He never had a coffee. His first coffee was with me. He was a mocha boy. It was in some Canberra cafe on a Boomers camp prep for the 2014 World Cup in Spain. I’d kept an eye on him from afar. Like me, he didn’t go to college as a young guy, he liked to score, I felt a little bit of synergy there. I was like, ‘this guy’s all right’ and he was mates with Gibbo and Waxy (Former Boomers Adam Gibson and Lucas Walker) and I was mates with them.

CG: In down times, some people liked to sleep, some people liked to speak to their families or whatever but, at the time, we were a lot younger and sleep wasn’t high on the radar. We liked to get out have a coffee and just talk s**t pretty much. You’ve got to understand, Boomers camps, it’s competing against each other, trying to win a spot.

BN: I think our mentalities are similar for the game, we’ve got a passion for it and being able to make a career as an Aussie playing basketball your whole life, that’s pretty cool.

Adam Gibson helped introduce Goulding to Newley.

MR: Talk about foregoing college to turn pro.

CG: Back then, you had to set up a couple of years in advance with doing certain subjects while you’re in high school, etc. For me, personally, I was a bit of a s**thead in high school, wasn’t playing a high level basketball. To think, in two years, time I’d be playing professionally or have a college offer, was a bit far-fetched. I’m happy with the decision I made.

MR: What clicked for you?

CG: I finished school and deferred uni and just worked on my game, just had some time where I just wanted to commit and try to do well and play some ABA. I got lucky to get on a couple of those teams and then it all snowballed from there.

MR: Newls, did CG play a role in you coming to Melbourne

BN: I let him know pretty quick that I was out of a job. He was one of my first ports of call to sniff around down south. There were a couple of options to go other places, but I like Melbourne. They’d just won a championship, that’s something I still want to get. I’ve had a previous relationship with (coach) Deano (Vickerman) so once I saw him call, it was a bit of a no-brainer.

Newley made his Olympic debut in 2008 in Beijing. Picture: AP

MR: Is there an envy of Chris having three titles?

BN: I have that with everyone, it’s the ultimate dream. Growing up, I always wanted to be an Olympian. When I made the AIS I wrote on my locker I want to go to the Olympics and I achieved that at a really young age (22), so yeah, there’s definitely that hunger. I’ve missed out. I played in a lot of European finals, been in a grand final here with the Kings, been on some really good teams but just haven’t been able to get over the top. You’d hear ‘championship player’ and you’re like ‘f**k, I want to be one of them’. I love footy and I look back at guys like Nathan Buckley, Nick Riewoldt, a lot of sportsmen came close. I’ve still got a chance, I believe, and once I stop thinking I’ve got a chance, that’s when I think I’m done.

MR: CG talk about why you’re such a great shooter.

BN: Don’t give away your secrets, mate.

CG: There’s a purpose to what I’m doing in practice.

BN: I like to throw a s***ty shot up when he’s shooting his ninth, keep him on edge. I’ll get my three in a row while he’s going for 10.

Goulding’s first official day in 2015 as a Melbourne United player. Picture: Mark Dadswell

MR: Where does he sit among the best shooters for you, Newls?

BN: I played with John Rillie.

CG: Oh, he could shoot.

BN: I think Chris is right up there with the best ones that I’ve played with or against. I played against Brett Maher, he could get his shot off any time with a high jump and release and of course, Drewy (Andrew Gaze) and probably Hammer (Shane Heal). If you’re up with those names you’re doing pretty well.

MR: Tell me about the friendship now.

BN: It’s a little bit full circle. He’s my leader now, whereas when it first started, I was the older guy. It’s nice to have a mate on the team, we can go and have a coffee, it might be game day and we’ll go for a walk and not even talk about basketball. It’s nice to have banter. You can play on teams where you just check in and check out and you do your job but having friends around makes it more fun.

CG: We connect over the kids, big time (Goulding has a daughter Genevieve and Newley a daughter Beth, 9, and son Charles, 4).

BN (laughing): He’s learning how to be a model father from me.

CG: If I ever have a question about parenting, I don’t ask Brad.

BN: He asks my wife.

CG: It’s cool, our wives (Molly Goulding and Brigid Newley) get on and our kids get on, it’s really nice having that in Melbourne.

BN: He met my babies when they were little as well and they know who he is so that’s a pretty cool thing to see and grow up with.

MR: Brad, talk about CG’s standing in the game.

BN: You go around to schools or even shopping centres and they’ll all say ‘we love Chris’. To get that kind of recognition in such a big sporting-dominant town is a pretty special thing. You walk around Sydney and no one knows who the hell you are. What he’s built here is pretty special and it’s great to be a part of it. I get to be his plus one to a few events. I don’t complain about it. Formula One’s coming up.

MR: Chris, how do you feel about being in the limelight and being that figurehead.

BN: He loves it, man.

CG: It’s just not that important to me, you know what I mean? What is important is our fans and their support and the club being in a good position, setting it up for the future. That's the coolest part about it.

MR: What does life after basketball look like?

CG: You have to have things in place, you have to be a realist, but, for me, I just signed another contract, so I want to do this thing as long as I can. Am I 100 per cent set in the next move? No, but I think it’s cool having options.

MR: Talk about United’s struggles this season?

CG: It’s weird, when we’ve had our full team …

BN: That’s no coincidence

CG: There’s been times where we can match it with any team. We did it to Brisbane, we did it to Perth at times, we did it to South East (Melbourne). It’s in there, it’s just can we bring it out for as long as possible and finish out games?

MR: United has a bit of a golfing crew, are you part of it, Newls?

BN: There’s some question marks about my golfing ability.

CG: He’s not horrible He needs to read the rule book and the etiquette book. He doesn’t watch where his ball goes so it’s my job to find his ball.

BN: There’s a bit of a crew.

CG: Me, J, Shili, X is a good golfer, Newls dabbles, a few of the owners play golf.

BN: I’ve been invited once and I haven’t been invited again, so that might be a message. Christmas is coming up, who knows maybe some golf clubs might appear under my tree. I enjoy the social side, the 19th hole.

CG: Why don’t we go Tuesday morning?

GOING STRONG

Top five active NBL games played (as of December 17).

431 Jesse Wagstaff

401 Daniel Johnson

399 Chris Goulding

384 David Barlow

379 Tom Abercrombie

RECORD HOLDERS

Top five NBL games played.

665 Tony Ronaldson

612 Andrew Gaze

567 Leroy Loggins

563 Glen Saville

554 Mark Bradtke

Originally published as Q&A with Melbourne United champions Chris Goulding and Brad Newley ahead of shared milestones